Deirdre's Corner

Don't forget to catch Deirdre's weekly Psychos segments on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:35am and Blonde on Blonde segment with Lis Wiehl, Wednesdays at 7:35am on Imus in the Morning!

Dangers of Formaldehyde Lurk in Everyday Products

by Deirdre Imus - The chemical and known human carcinogen formaldehyde pops up in many unexpected places, like pressed wood products such as cabinets and flooring, hair straightening or curling treatments, fertilizers, cigarette smoke, and some plastic and paper products. It is also used to kill germs, or as a preservative, which is its main function in the funeral industry. And, it is putting at risk the lives of those who deal with the dead. Read more...

Playing Offense Against GMO's: Your Right To Know

by Deirdre Imus - Back in April the popular Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle announced it would use only ingredients free of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Last year, Whole Foods Market committed to “full transparency” on products containing GMOs, demanding that by 2018 all products sold in its U.S. and Canadian stores be labeled to indicate if they contain genetically engineered materials. These are noble proclamations with potentially huge implications and should not be taken lightly. Read more...

An Angry Father's Guide To The Measles Vaccine

Be informed. Please. I wish I had, 10 years ago, and my life and my family’s life would be much different today. I don’t want you to agree with me, I don’t need you to agree with me, and I don’t need you to change any of your plans, but I hope you’ll listen to what I have to say so you have more information to make the right choice for your son or daughter. Read more...

Deirdre's Book Pick Of The Week

Unlocked: A Family Emerging from the Shadows of Autism

A Poignant and Inspiring Story of a Family Whose Child Emerges from Autism. Unlocked begins with a vivid depiction of the author’s life with her autistic son, Ben. Feelings of isolation, self-hate, and even moments of hatred toward her own child in response to his behaviors, as well as the impact on her marriage and younger daughter, impel her to seek solutions for his condition. Through years of trial and error, Susan eventually discovers methods that bring about radical improvement in Ben. Read more....

Dr. Jim Walsh, a research associate at MIT’s Security Studies Program, was recruited late last night to appear this program because Imus needed somebody to explain “what the hell” is going on in Japan.

Unfortunately, Walsh, who focuses on nuclear issues, might not be that person. “First of all, no one knows for sure what’s going on, including the government and the utility,” he said. “Secondly, whatever they thought they knew a minute ago seems to be changing all the time.”

In the aftermath of Friday’s gigantic earthquake that triggered a powerful tsunami, Japan has been scrambling to avoid nuclear meltdowns at various facilities around the country. Luckily, Walsh was able to explain to Imus—and to countless members of his audience—what a meltdown actually means.

“There are fuel rods inside the reactor,” he explained. “If they’re exposed to air for any prolonged period of time, their casing begins to melt.”

A partial meltdown would be where only some of the material begins to melt, but that’s not the event often portrayed in blockbuster movies. “The ultimate scenario is a full meltdown,” Walsh said. “Meaning all the fuel rods melt in their entirety, and drip down into the bottom of the reactor vessel, and there they start to mix together.”

When highly-enriched uranium mixes with any other highly radioactive material, unless it’s controlled, it can explode. “Sort of a low-level nuclear explosion,” Walsh stipulated. “Not the same thing as an atom bomb, but not far from it.” At that point, the question becomes whether the radioactivity can be contained.

In Japan, the nuclear reactors have containment vessels that were built as a last line of defense to keep any meltdown inside the reactor core, but Walsh said it’s unknown yet whether they’ll work. “That’s not an experiment you want to run,” he joked.

Most of Japan’s nuclear power plants were built in the 1970s, and it’s unknown what effect the radiation has had, over time, on the concrete walls. While there’s some confidence the containment vessel will hold, it’s impossible to predict. If it does not, Walsh said, “Then you probably have an explosion—not as bad as Chernobyl, but in the Chernobyl neighborhood.”

An explosion would disperse intense radioactivity into the air, at which point it’s pretty much Mother Nature’s call what happens next. Walsh believes that, in the event of an explosion, there will be medical consequences, both physical and mental, as people cope with anxiety over their health; debate whether to return to the neighborhood; and try to withstand the economic fallout.

Walsh agreed with Imus that the idea of building nuclear plants in a country like Japan, which sits on the Pacific Plate, an earthquake-prone region also known as the Ring of Fire, sounds insane, but noted the country’s severe lack of natural resources.

“They made a real commitment to civilian nuclear energy, because they figured they could rely on that, and they built the plants to withstand a major earthquake,” Walsh said. “But this isn’t a major earthquake. This is a massive earthquake, beyond what you might normally expect.”

You might also normally expect the Japanese government to be honest with its people about the possible ramifications of this whole mess, but you would be wrong there, too.

“The government’s tendency has been to underreport, to not put a lot of information out there,” Walsh said. Though he is sympathetic to the number of challenges presently facing the country, he stressed the need for the government to be forthcoming or risk losing its credibility.

“That’s the one thing the Japanese government’s going to need,” Walsh added.